Huber v. Huber

Decision Date07 June 1988
Docket NumberNo. CA,CA
Citation527 So.2d 382
PartiesWarren HUBER v. Julia Ann HUBER, his wife. 9218. 527 So.2d 382
CourtCourt of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Adelaide Baudier, J.D., Metairie, for plaintiff-appellant.

Frederick P. Heisler, Heisler & Wysocki, New Orleans, for defendant-appellee.

Before SCHOTT, KLEES and PLOTKIN, JJ.

SCHOTT, Judge.

Appellant, Warren Huber, filed a rule against his divorced wife, Julia Ann Huber, to terminate post divorce alimony on the ground that he had retired and suffered a reduction in income. The trial court modified the alimony to delete payments of twenty-five percent of incentive and bonus pay from his employment but refused to terminate the fixed alimony of $225 per month. The issue is whether a spouse who retires and suffers a reduction in income from about $4,000 monthly to $938 is entitled, as a matter of law, to termination of all alimony payments to the spouse whose needs are the same.

Appellant had previously brought a motion to reduce or terminate alimony in June 1985 and took an appeal from the trial court's denial of the motion. This court affirmed. Huber v. Huber, 499 So.2d 1263 (La.App. 4th Cir.1986). Appellant's present burden is the same as then, to prove a change in circumstances from the time the alimony was last considered. Appellant established that his income has been drastically reduced as a result of his voluntary retirement, but the trial court refused to terminate the alimony under the circumstances.

Appellant is fifty-nine years of age. He stated that he retired to escape the pressures of his job and built a $70,000 retirement home in Alabama with funds saved by him and his present wife. He estimated his income, combined with that of his present wife, was over $1900 per month of which about half is from the separate property of his wife. In 1986 their combined income was over $4500 per month. The principal reason for the difference is appellant's voluntary retirement. In 1986 they also received interest from savings which were spent on their home in 1987 LSA-C.C.P. art. 160 authorizes the court to allow the spouse, who has not been at fault and has not sufficient means for support, permanent alimony out of the property and earnings of the other spouse. In his own testimony at trial of the rule to terminate alimony appellant specifically admitted that appellee's circumstances have not changed since the last time they were in court. Thus, the underlying...

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3 cases
  • Shaughnessy v. Shaughnessy
    • United States
    • Arizona Court of Appeals
    • February 22, 1990
    ...(App.1985); Servies v. Servies, 524 So.2d 678 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1988); Ward v. Ward, 502 So.2d 477 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1987); Huber v. Huber, 527 So.2d 382 (La.Ct.App.1988); Smith v. Smith, 419 A.2d 1035 (Me.1980); Villano v. Villano, 98 Misc.2d 774, 414 N.Y.S.2d 625 (1979); but see McFadden v.......
  • Mitchell v. Mitchell
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US
    • November 3, 1993
    ...retirement alone will not result in a termination of alimony payments to a spouse whose needs have remained the same. Huber v. Huber, 527 So.2d 382 (La.App. 4th Cir.1988), writ denied, 532 So.2d 768 (La.1988). In the instant case, Alice's needs have not remained the same; they have increase......
  • Huber v. Huber
    • United States
    • Louisiana Supreme Court
    • November 11, 1988
    ...the Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, No. CA 9218; Parish of Orleans, Civil District Court, Div. "L", No. 559-278. Prior report: La.App., 527 So.2d 382. ...

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